we will love the Lord our God with all of our heart, mind, soul and strength. we will serve our marriage by loving each other as Christ loved the church, by uplifting each other in prayer, and by creating an environment of peace, love, forgiveness, respect and laughter. we will strive to model Christ in our relationships with others and will be humble stewards of His blessings.
over the Christmas holidays, my hubby's mother, father, sisters, + maternal grandparents came to visit + spent a few days with us at our house. his brother also stayed a few days with us as he was already living in the area at the time. we had a great time just visiting with one another, shopping {well, they did...i'm not much of a shopper - at all, lol}, cooking, + visiting other family members.
Christmas morning, we exchanged gifts + then headed over to my hubby's cousin's home for an awesome breakfast! here are a few pics of us exchanging gifts + at breakfast...
there's a funny story about my mattress pad - LOL!!!
breakfast/bunch....YUM!!!
it started to SNOOOOOOOOOOW!!!!!
after breakfast/brunch, we all headed over to rae's aunt + grandmother's homes for Christmas dinner!
the week after Thanksgiving, the hubby + i decided to look for a Christmas tree to put in our living room. we had been eyeing one at a local store + after a few trips back + forth, we decided to go ahead + purchase it. i don't even remember what we were indecisive about at the time, given the fact that this all happened almost two months ago but once we finally got the tree home, we were pretty excited about it. it was the perfect size for the space we had picked out.
the tree came in two pretty large boxes. we literally spent about 20 minutes trying to stuff fit the tree into our car. keyword: car...not a truck, a van, or an SUV...you know, any kind of vehicle that could actually fit a 12 foot Christmas tree...a car. the experience was pretty exhausting fun. after realizing that fitting the boxes in the car just wasn't going to work, we decided to improvise + take all the tree parts out of the boxes - SCORE!
we waited until the next weekend to actually put the tree up + decorate it...we had grand plans to do it all in one night, but that didn't happen - at all. it took us about a week {yeah, i said it} to finish the tree. i mean...the thing was HUGE!!!! and, of course, it had to be just right because soooomebody in our house is such a perfectionist, lol! i'm not saying any names {especially since it's mine, lol}.
although it took us a few days, we had a great time doing it....here are a few pics of the process...
we had yummy chocolate chip cookies! sorry, i couldn't wait until after the pic to take a bite....
hubby setting up the Christmas music + slideshow of pictures of us through the years...
some of the decorations
the space BEFORE
the grand reveal....
note: we couldn't find a tree topper that we liked, so we went without one this year
today, i will be doing a series of "catch up" posts. so much has happened over the past couple of weeks since i last posted, like Christmas...New Years...lasik surgery, lol...so, enjoy the next few posts!
soooo, without further ado, let's get this "catch up" party started...
in a previous post, i mentioned that i had taken pictures of my father + brother for their Christmas cards, but i wanted to wait until they had mailed them out before i posted the pictures online. to be honest with you, i'm not even sure that they sent them out.....men, i tell ya! in their defense, they didn't receive the cards until 2 days before Christmas, but stillll!!! {i knew i just should have had the cards mailed to me so that i could've made sure they got out, lol}.
anyhooo, you know what i noticed?!?! there's no date on these....soooo, my vote is to send them out next year, LOL! just kidding...kinda :)
well for the sake of the cards not going 100% to waste, i am posting an online version of the card here...
i think you can click on the card for a better view....check out my wonderful beginner photography skills :)
just wanted to take a few moments to wish everyone a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! here are a few things i am particularly thankful for...today + always...
my relationship with God: He continues to guide me + shows me unconditional love...even though i am not worthy!
my husband: his friendship...his laughter...his smile...it is truly a blessing to be able to make the conscious decision to chose love, to choose my husband, and be forever humbled that he also chooses me.
my family + friends: i am surrounded by people that i love + care for beyond words. i am thankful for each relationship + the individual ways they impact my life.
my career: the ability to earn a living doing work that i enjoy {most days, hehehe}.
today is a wonderful day to share with family + friends, but we should do our best to live with a spirit of thanksgiving in our daily lives!
so, the hubby + i have been talking about "family planning" quite a bunch recently + although we don't plan to start our family of kiddies just yet, it's never too early to start preparing.
i came across an interesting video this morning from CBS news that talks about the correlation between laptop use + low sperm count in men. apparently, it's no bueno for that area of a man's body to be "overheated"...so it makes sense that sitting a laptop "there" would be no bueno as well.
lucky for us, my momma bought me a laptop stand that i'm very fond of + use occastionally - you can use it in a chair, in the bed, on the floor - just about anywhere!
perhaps i'll be "re-gifting" that bad boy to my hubby because, "hey! we're gonna need those!!!"
feel free to check out the video below for more "scientific" details...
this weekend, my brother, sister, her husband + children, and our father all came to visit the hubby + i. we had a really great time eating, fellowshipping with one another, playing games, etc.
for dinner, we had parmesan tilapia, steamed green beans, garlic mashed potatoes, and biscuits. everyone said dinner was really great *turning around so you can pat me on my back*, hehehe; however, i cannot take credit for the biscuits...they were AWESOME!!! my sister + brother introduced the hubby + i to a new brand {can't remember what it's called...will update the post later}.
in celebration of my niece, laikyn's, birthday we had cheesecake {her favorite}. my brother, jt, truly outdid himself with the strawberry topping that he made...it was truly delicious. the best part of it all was that laikyn had no idea that we were gonna surprise her...here are a few pics...
after we finished eating dinner + devouring the birthday cheesecake, we played mad gab + then taboo....it was a whole lot of fun! i was very impressed with how well my niece + nephew grasped taboo...they did a really great job of coming up with their own clues!
we're looking forward to our next family weekend sometime at the end of january. we're truly blessed to be surrounded by the love + support of our family + friends!!!
on this day, four years ago...i met the man that would later become my husband. i am so blessed + grateful to experience such an amazing love here on earth...a love that grows even more amazing as we both continue to grow closer to God individually as well as a family.
to my husband, my best friend - i respect you. i love you.
here's how it all started {from the front of our wedding save the date}....
{graphic design by www.thebeepaperie.com}
skydiving!
october 1, 2007
january 18, 2009 - engagement day!!!
**a little perturbed that my pics won't "center", but hey, guess you can't win 'em all! LOL :)
i'm super-duper thrilled that my momma is in town for a week! i'm really excited to be able to spend time with her...she was in atlanta for about a year, but moved after my wedding :( i truly miss having her around - she is an amazing woman...with such a kind heart + i am truly blessed to have her as my mother.
here's a pic of her + i while she was helping me get dressed for my wedding. it was only her + i in the room before everyone else came in...it was truly awesome to share those special moments with her. i wish i knew what we were laughing at - but apparently, it was QUITE HILARIOUS ;)
earlier this month, the hubby + i spent a weekend in san antonio, texas + attended dominique's {our niece} high school graduation. it was great to see her walk across that stage + get her diploma...my heart was absolutely filled with pride!
she's currently attending a summer program at the college she'll be attending in the fall.
our prayers are with her as she begins this new journey in her life!
we love you, dominique! :)
~~~
**note: this blogpost is SEVERELY overdue. i was waiting on a picture that i could post; however, the hubby + i had some technical difficulties with our camera that day + dominique made mention that her pictures from the day were deleted also!!! :( but, in an effort to not be totally "pic-less", i have posted one of my fav pics of me + dominique {circa 1994/1995ish}! eat your heart out!!! LOL!
i'll apologize in advance because i can see that this is going to be an "intense", yet vague blog post - for good reason. i honestly just need a place to "vent"...a lot of times i'm not the best at communicating my feelings verbally, but i have found that writing can be very therapeutic for me. so here it goes...
my family + friends are very important to me.
have you ever been "at odds" with a person + you initially weren't really sure what exactly they were upset at you about? but...in an effort to reconcile the situation, you "put yourself out there" multiple times by initiating conversations to get to the "bottom" of the issue...aaaaaaand every time you talk to the person you leave the conversation thinking, "okay...maybe now we can move on! this could be the start of new beginnings!", buuuuuuut in subsequent interactions you realize the person is still harboring ill-feelings?
well, that's basically where i've found myself over the past year - actually over a year.
my caveat to this is that no one is perfect - no one - so, i do understand that there are things that i probably could have done differently. the basis of the "disagreement" is the fact that i made a decision with someone else that apparently impacted more than just me + the someone else. my issue with this is that my decision was one done out of LOVE, yet i am basically being prosecuted for it. the rest of the "disagreements" stem from the initial one...and it's just been a spiraling, downhill drop from there.
i honestly have gotten to the point where the "why's" of the situation no longer matter to me...i'd rather be able to agree to disagree, if needed, + move on. i really think that it's unhealthy to keep "rehashing" the past + revisiting conversations that have already been "settled"/discussed or to remain upset about something{s} that you're not willing to talk about. i would much rather focus on the future.
is that a selfish thought?!
maybe it is, but i'm somewhat at a loss because i am the only person in this equation that even makes an attempt to address the issues at hand - and i'm not even the one with the issues. i'm the only one that has made any attempts to call/text/visit/etc to discuss the situation. my frustration with everything is increasing as time goes on because i feel like people are looking to me to make things right, but i can't do it alone. i get the "i wish you two would get along/work it out/go back to the way things were" phone calls, but i wonder if the person in question gets the same calls? my husband is always in my ear about praying about the situation {i thank God for him} + forgiving even when my natural mind doesn't want to, but i wonder if anyone is in the other person's ear...
i got my hopes up a few months ago after our last conversation {which i initiated} because they said they wanted to work on rebuilding our relationship, but i've yet to receive any type of communication from the person {with the exception of one voicemail that was to convey information unrelated to the situation}. right or wrong, i told myself i wasn't going to call anymore - i was going to wait until the person reached out to me as the hand that i've repeatedly extended in an effort to reconcile has.grown.weak + it would be nice to know that the person is willing to at least show some effort in rebuilding the relationship.
sooo...what AM i going to do about it?!?
pray! Pray!! PRAY!!!
a facebook friend of mine posted a video about forgiveness a few weeks ago - it is truly my prayer for my relationship with this person as well as others that have been strained as a result.
change my thinking
during one of our church small group meetings at our house, one of our friends put forgiveness in perspective: Jesus died for all of our sins + He doesn't expect us to even "pay Him back". He loves us unconditionally, yet we still as humans continue to fall short. basically...WHO AM I to not forgive someone when Jesus continually forgives me?!? it's definitely a hard concept to grasp with the natural mind, but in my quest to live my life more like Him, it's what i'm striving for....i'll be the first to admit...i'm not there yet, but at least i'm trying...
welcome! this blog houses some of my adventures with my hubby as a newlywed + other random thoughts + ideas that may interest me.
christian.wife.daughter.sister.aunt. friend.blessed.loved.me.
{profile picture by www.wscottchester.com}
